A history of Innovation

The BrandPreneur Challenge

"Have car, need driver" -

A 3 month program for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to test their mettle building the brand of a cool new app. Think of it as a kind of pre-fab entrepreneurship program.

We've all heard that 9 out of 10 startups fail. Why is that? Really it shouldn't be all that surprising when you consider the odds of combining an unproven concept with typically an inexperienced entrepreneur working on a shoe-string budget. While it is not easy to have the right idea it's the implementation thereof that's the real challenge.

But what would happen if one started out with an idea that already has a beta product and comes with a generous budget and mentoring? That's the idea behind the BrandPreneurs program.

Where did the idea for BrandPreneurs come from?While many entrepreneurs are hard pressed to come-up with sensible business ideas, Ralf has the opposite problem. That's what led him to start more than 12 companies since 1982.

In the 1990's Ralf started to learn how to program databases with FileMaker Pro which has become an indispensable tool that he uses to convert concept into reality. Over the years many projects were created that never became startups but were all app based. It is these apps that provide the basis of the BrandPreneur challenges.

MVP Apps for Cohort# 1

What does it cost to take part in the challenge?There is no cost to become a BrandPreneur - rather it is a question of who will be selected. During the 3 month cohort time every BrandPreneur will have a $30,000 budget to run the brand in startup mode - meaning decisions have to be made on a budget that isn’t just marketing but includes things like rent as well as development costs etc. - just like a startup. That’s your fuel.

At the outset each BrandPreneur will be developing a plan of action with milestones. This includes enhancing and modifying the product as necessary and above all marketing it as effectively as possible. How well you manage your budget will be an important area of focus for the show.

“The whole point is to create a kind of startup experience on steroids where the BrandPreneurs are getting into an already moving vehicle. A pre-fab startup you could say. Their challenge is to see how far they can develop the product in a limited time period. The app becomes the game ball. App downloads are the ultimate measure of success and every BrandPreneur will receive a 50% revenue share of their brand up to $30,000 for 1 year after the end of each cohort.”

Ralf

What makes the BrandPreneur Challenge special?Unlike typical startups the BrandPreneur Challenge already has a vision and app which embodies the vision. The goal is for the BrandPreneurs to successfully grow the market for their app taking advantage of the distribution power of the iOS AppStore.

We will be building a complete business plan with milestones for every project. Unlike most such plans, ours really will be your guiding blueprint.

What's included?All BrandPreneurs will be working out of Cross Campus - a co-working space in Santa Monica, California for the duration of the program.

You're on NextPitch.tvWe want to share the BrandPreneur experience with the world through a NextPitch.tv video podcast. The show will focus on the respective challenges facing each project and how the BrandPreneur decides to address them. Thus all of the mentoring meetings will be video recorded and profile videos will also be made.

The app that gets the largest number of downloads by the end of the program will be the winner. Although the BrandPreneurs are effectively competing against each other they are actually encouraged to collaborate with each other to devise the most effective marketing strategy.

Ultimately sales are the most obvious and logical measure of success we can all agree. However, in our case some of the apps will rely on the freemium model i.e. get the app for free and pay for something desirable from within the app later. That’s great but does not typically yield immediate financial results so we have decided to make the number of downloads the fairest yardstick to determine the winner.

Each BrandPreneur will get a $30k budget for the 3 months of the program. How you choose to allocate your budget is a key ingredient of the learning process and will be on display to the audience. The goal is to recreate the actual startup experience but on steroids. You have to determine where to use your limited resources most effectively including product development, support and team building etc. and not just sales and marketing. At the end of the program each participant can be considered a winner alone from the practical experience gained - even if their plans don’t work out as envisaged.

From a financial perspective each BrandPreneur will receive 50% of the profit generated by their app for 1 year after the end of the challenge or until $30,000 has been reached.

At the beginning of the program every BrandPreneur will create a living business plan. What’s that? Well, typically business plans are created largely to raise funding and once that has been achieved they typically end up in a drawer to gather dust. That’s like mapping out a driving route between two cities and then throwing the map out the window on departure.

Since funding is not the issue the plan worked out by each BrandPreneur will act as a roadmap with significant milestone targets. Think of it more as a pitch deck that asks the usual questions - what’s the problem, how is it being solved, is there a market for it, who are the main competitors, how do you best market the product and above all, what’s the best way to monetize it. We have developed a special software solution for use by the BrandPreneurs to quickly create their plans at the beginning of the program.

Our core mission is to support startups through online events that help them effectively obtain funding from the crowd and through education. The BrandPreneur program seeks to provide a practical education for aspiring entrepreneurs that is hopefully both entertaining and instructive. Just like in a game each BrandPreneur starts off with a product and a budget with the goal of successfully taking it to market within a limited time period - in our case 3 months. Unlike many games though, in the BrandPreneur Challenge all of the participants can be winners or losers. They are competing with themselves - not against each other. Whatever the outcome they should walk away with a very valuable real-life experience from which they and the audience will benefit immensely.

Hands on by Ralf who will also have the personal challenge of making most of the app changes and feature editions that the BrandPreneurs will require. However, therein lies the excitement of the experience - to see the brand evolve rapidly in front of your eyes under your leadership.